A red ball spins in the air and lands in the hands of a young man who smiles, somewhat nervously – it’s his turn to speak to the group. “I’m Rodrigo,” he says, becoming more confident as he speaks. “I attended a course last year and now I have changed to Biomedical Engineering.” The ball is thrown up again in the air and lands in the hands of a student who laughs easily. “My name is Beatriz”. She had already studied filmmaking, but this time she chose Environmental Engineering. “I’m looking forward to attending good barbecues and making lots of friends.” In fact, the aim of such activities is to build friendships among newcomers to Técnico, in which students stand in a circle and introduce themselves to the group by passing each other a ball.
The third day of the Welcome Week is underway. This time, the welcome activities are taking place outside the Main Building. On the first two days, due to the weather conditions, the ‘first meeting’ took place in the building’s atrium. This time, the new students started their path in front of the Main Building, where they collected the ‘New Student Kit’, which includes a copy of the Student Guide and a Técnico T-shirt, and then they meet their mentors – the students from more advanced years who will help them adapt to the new student life.
Once the introductions have been made, the groups proceed along the usual welcoming path, passing through several School’s spaces, on both campi, Alameda and Taguspark. At the end of the tour, the Taguspark students will attend a presentation session of Industrial Management Engineering undergraduate programme, in the amphitheatre. At Alameda campus, the presentation sessions of Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering undergraduate programmes take place in the afternoon.
At these sessions, the students got to know the course coordinator, the representatives of the Student Organisations and the professor who has been assigned to them as a tutor and who will accompany them throughout their academic journey (some of these professors made a point of meeting with their tutees on the same day, so that all the introductions could be made). They also have the opportunity to learn more about the several Técnico services that can help them achieve academic success, such as the Academic Development Unit, which is responsible for organising training sessions on effective study strategies and time management, online study rooms and scholarship programmes, among others.
In the coming days, Técnico will welcome more students. More useful information is available at First Steps at Técnico.
